Gibb’s farm is located outside of the town of Karatu, on the border of the Ngorongoro conservation area. The farmhouse was first built in 1929 by a German coffee farmer. The farm was later bought by James and Margaret Gibb, who eventually established it as one of the first guest houses in that region.

In 2005, I had only been living in Tanzania for a year when I got a call from my friends at Gibb’s Farm asking if I would be interested in helping them with some major renovations. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to help make one of the most beautiful places I have ever been even more beautiful! My wife, our 6 month old son and I packed up and moved there for two and a half years.

During this time I led a team of over 200 local artisans in handcrafting 13 new guest cottages and many other facility upgrades. We did all of the landscaping, construction, furniture, blacksmithing of window and door locks, sewing curtains…everything, down to the last detail, on site with members of the surrounding community of Karatu! Thanks to the hard work of our whole team, Gibb’s Farm has gone on to become one of the top destinations in Tanzania and has received many awards.

We also designed and installed natural reed filtered grey water systems and a huge circulating solar hot water system.

During my life at the farm not only was I the project manager for renovations; I also was assisting to manage guest services, maintenance, the garage for our vehicles, as well as the coffee and vegetable farm.

Have a look at this short piece by The Green Living Project to see more about the project and to see me in action:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7uewa0AXj4